A Guide to Self-Rescue in the Cultivation World - Chapter 38

Zhou Suyao gasped sharply.

She suddenly understood who she was.

And why did she have to endure all this?

She was the living embodiment of the curse the Female Yin had planted at the cost of her life.

She was also the Female Yin’s final gift to the Human Dao.

As long as she existed, the Human Dao would never be utterly destroyed.

All the questions about why she came to the Spiritual Dao and why she was caught up in this turmoil were, in this moment, strung together by an invisible thread, like scattered pearls.

She slowly stood up straight, ignoring the furious gazes of the Spiritual Dao cultivators around her who were still raging over their comrade’s sudden death.

Instead, she turned slowly and looked at the little boy behind her, who was still utterly terrified.

He remembered nothing, yet he was instinctively kind to her, instinctively protecting her in danger.

He instinctively believed he could not let Zhou Suyao die.

What kind of powerful Human Dao could forge such a pure person?

A conviction had long been denied in Zhou Suyao’s subconscious.

But now, she had to look directly at the boy before her.

This boy really did look remarkably like Eldest Senior Brother. The boy in front of her was an almost perfect match for the childhood image of Eldest Senior Brother she had seen in the second life.

Yet, the Eldest Senior Brother of the second life had fought her fiercely to protect the so-called Spiritual Dao Lords?

Why?

Could it be that in the first life, she hadn’t saved him, and therefore, in his subsequent reincarnation, Eldest Senior Brother felt no affection for her, even taking her life with his own hands?

And this time, in the second life, because she returned to the delusion and saved the boy, the boy would, after his reincarnation, become Zhou Shan Yuan.

He would become her Eldest Senior Brother.

Zhou Suyao was stunned by her own deduction. Her heart hammered like a drum, refusing to slow down.

Could it be that she had saved herself all along?

Zhou Suyao reached out and gently grasped the boy’s cold, trembling hand.

Her voice was soft, yet filled with endless power.

She spoke slowly, as if talking to the boy, but also to herself.

“Don’t be afraid.”

“I think  I know who we are now.”

“And I know what I must do.”

As her words faded, the delusion began to recede like a tide. She heard someone calling her name. She struggled to open her eyes, seeing neither the ancient battlefield nor the cold sunlight of the orphanage.

She was back in her mortal world.

But this time, she knew exactly what she needed to do.

The delusion completely vanished. The smell of bl00d in her nostrils was replaced by the scent of scorched earth and herbs, and she heard the chirping of birds in the forest.

Zhou Suyao’s eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw was Zhou Shan Yuan’s face, right next to hers.

His beautiful face was wrinkled with worry, like a small, steamed bun. Zhou Suyao felt a moment of disorientation and instinctively raised her hand, wanting to smooth his furrowed brow.

But she couldn’t quite bring herself to do it.

“Suyao? Suyao!”

His anxious voice chased away the last traces of her fog.

It was the Eldest Senior Brother.

Zhou Shan Yuan.

Not the little boy she had to protect in the delusion, nor the Lord Xun Dan from the three-life reincarnation fantasy.

He was just him.

A massive wave of relief, a pain that took three lifetimes to understand, and the overwhelming joy of finding something lost, all flooded her in that instant.

Before Zhou Shan Yuan could react, Zhou Suyao suddenly threw her arms out.

She hugged his neck with seemingly all her strength, burying her face deep into his chest.

Her body was still trembling, not from fear, but from the rush of turbulent emotion.

Zhou Shan Yuan was momentarily stunned by her sudden action, his body going rigid instantly. He could clearly feel the strength of her embrace, which nearly took his breath away.

This was not how Little Junior Sister usually acted.

“Suyao?” He softened his voice, a tentative, careful sound. His hand hovered in the air for a long time before finally gently returning the embrace.

He soothingly rubbed her back, his voice tender: “Did you see something? Don’t be afraid. It was just a delusion. None of it was real.”

His gentleness was just as it had always been.

Zhou Suyao shook her head in his arms, her voice muffled: “It wasn’t false, it wasn’t…”

How could it be false? If it were, everything she had experienced would have been pointless.

She lifted her head, looking at him through tear-filled eyes. Zhou Shan Yuan looked back at her, his heart inexplicably skipping several beats.

Those eyes, always so clear, were now brimming with tears. He had never seen her this heartbroken.

Zhou Shan Yuan’s heart twisted painfully, Suyao, what on earth?”

He couldn’t finish his sentence.

Because Little Junior Sister kissed his words away.

She cupped his face, tilted her head, and, with salty tears mixing on their lips, clumsily yet resolutely pressed her soft mouth against his.

Zhou Shan Yuan’s breathing instantly hitched, his mind a complete blank.

The world seemed to fall silent in that moment, leaving only the wet, cool touch of her tear-stained lips against his.

The kiss was utterly without skill, even carrying a hint of reckless abandon, but it struck him like a clap of thunder, completely obliterating his rationality.

He forgot how to react, completely frozen, passively feeling her trembling lips against his, feeling her tears continuously slide down, wetting his face.

Time seemed to stretch out, yet it also felt like only a second had passed.

Zhou Suyao slowly pulled back, a faint sound audible as their lips parted.

Her cheeks were flushed, and tears still clung to her lashes, but she didn’t blink, looking seriously into his astonished eyes.

After a long moment, she finally blinked, as if finally pulling away from a powerful emotion. Her voice was very soft, slightly hoarse.

“Thank you.”

Thank you for choosing to be gentle with me in this life, even while burdened with a heavy mission.

Thank you ultimately. Not becoming the person I feared you would be.

Another sentence circled in her mind but remained unspoken.

Yet, that unspoken sentiment was still reflected in her eyes as she gazed at him:

You waited for me for a long time, and I waited for you, too.

Zhou Shan Yuan stared at her, stunned. His heart was hammering so loudly it threatened to burst from his chest. The emotion he had suppressed for so long erupted like a volcano, threatening to consume him.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found his throat was completely choked.

All he could do was instinctively tighten his arms around her, pulling her even closer into his embrace.

As if he wanted to simply meld her into his own flesh and bl00d.

Eldest Senior Brother’s embrace was warm and solid, carrying a reassuring, crisp scent. Zhou Suyao sank into the momentary tenderness, as if trying to absorb everything they had missed across their past lives.

And Eldest Senior Brother’s tightening arms and rapidly accelerating heartbeat silently responded to her sudden kiss.

However, the intimate atmosphere lasted only for an extreme moment.

She suddenly remembered why she had come here before falling into the delusion.

It was because Third Senior Brother, Zhou Zonglan, had inhaled a large amount of Shadow Orchid pollen, was deep in a delusion, and was in critical condition.

She pulled herself from Zhou Shan Yuan’s arms in a panic. The blush had yet to fade from her cheeks, but her eyes had already cleared.

“Eldest Senior Brother!” She grabbed his sleeve, her tone urgent. “What about Third Senior Brother? We! We have to hurry and save him!”

Zhou Shan Yuan was startled by her words. The sudden emptiness in his arms caused a pang of loss in his heart, but the responsibility of the Eldest Senior Brother quickly took precedence. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He quickly took her wrist, checked her pulse to confirm she was fine, and then spoke quickly:

“Don’t panic. Mingwu is still with Zonglan. I sensed your aura was wrong just now and rushed to find you.”

He spoke while pulling her hand, hurrying back the way they came: “You just fell into a delusion. Are you hurt?”

Zhou Suyao was pulled forward by him, her gaze falling on his hand tightly gripping hers. A surge of emotion, the source of which she couldn’t name, passed through her heart.

But she didn’t know what to say, so she vaguely brushed it off: “I’m fine, I just… saw some things. But Third Senior Brother inhaled a lot of the pollen, we have to hurry!”

“I know,” Zhou Shan Yuan frowned. “The Shadow Orchid’s poison is that it draws out a person’s deepest obsession and amplifies it in a loop until their spiritual awareness is exhausted. The more one inhales, the deeper the amplification. Ordinary methods won’t wake him. Either he has to break the obsession in his heart himself, or we have to find the root of his obsession and break it from the outside.”

They hurried on, quickly returning to the previous spot.

They found Second Senior Brother, Qu Mingwu, sitting cross-legged beside the unconscious Zhou Zonglan, one hand pressed to his back, gently sending warm spiritual energy to protect his heart meridian.

Qu Mingwu’s face was a little pale; clearly, this was taxing his spiritual energy reserves.

Zhou Zonglan lay in his arms, eyes tightly closed, his brows painfully furrowed. His body twitched occasionally, and his lips opened and closed silently, seemingly enduring extreme torment in the delusion.

“Eldest Senior Brother, Suyao!” Qu Mingwu sighed in relief when he saw them return, but his brow instantly furrowed again upon seeing Zhou Zonglan’s tormented state. “Zonglan is not doing well. His spiritual awareness is fluctuating more and more violently. If this continues, I fear.

Zhou Suyao rushed forward, wanting to transfer spiritual energy to Third Senior Brother’s back, but Eldest Senior Brother stopped her.

“You were just in a delusion yourself, and your spiritual energy is weak. If you transfer energy to Zonglan, both of you might be hurt.”

Saying this, he stepped forward, a golden light flickering on his fingertip, which he placed on Zhou Zonglan’s brow. Moments later, his expression became even more serious.

“His obsession is very deep. The delusion has become a quagmire. Forcing our way in will only damage his spiritual root.”

Zhou Shan Yuan pondered for a moment, then glanced at the two of them. “Now, we can only find something that will soothe his obsession, and then guide him from the outside, using gentleness to overcome force, to let him slowly escape the delusion.”

Hearing this, Second Senior Brother carefully laid Zhou Zonglan’s body down, then said, “I’ll go look.”

His eyes were a little red: “I’ll go chase after the coachman carrying the luggage. Before we left, I told him not to bring so many useless things, but thankfully… he never listens.”

With that, he stood up. Just as he was about to set off, his ankle was suddenly grabbed.

He looked around in confusion at the two of them, who both shrugged innocently, before slowly looking down at the person lying on the ground.

Third Senior Brother was still frowning, but a little color had returned to his lips.

“Second Senior Brother…”

The unconscious Zhou Zonglan murmured. Just as Qu Mingwu was about to pry his hand off, Zhou Shan Yuan suddenly called out to stop him.

“No need.”

Zhou Shan Yuan leaned in to check Zhou Zonglan’s consciousness, then pulled Zhou Suyao’s hand and placed it on Third Senior Brother’s crown.

Then, he looked up at the still-bewildered Qu Mingwu.

The corner of his mouth curved up, a hint of relief in his voice.

No need. We are his obsession.